May 4, 2021
1. Tonight is Yankees vs. Astros, at Yankee Stadium
Their first meeting since the 2019 ALCS, since the scandal came out. And in honor of the 2020 Shame Tour, I’ll be posting any every heckling video anyone sends in on the Twitter feed (@bbletter).
It’s going to be good.
2. Tyler Glasnow made the catch of the night
2.06 ERA, flowing hair, the man can do it all:
And later in the night, a strikeout strut on the second strike of the AB:
3. Jose Canseco had the best Jose Canseco tweet of the year
He already predicted the A-Rod / J-Lo break-up.
We cannot write the man off:
4. The lights went out at Busch Stadium for 20 seconds
Ninth inning. Middle of an at-bat. Very close game.
And just like that — a black-out. Like a janitor downstairs somewhere accidentally bumped the giant red “DO NOT TOUCH” switch:
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6. Alright so it turns out “Donnie Stevenson” is an imaginary hitting coach, invented by Pete Alonso
If you saw a reference to this “Donnie Stevenson” in the newsletter yesterday, well, last night it hit me: there is no Donnie Stevenson.
All of which brings us to last night — when the Mets fired their real, actual hitting coaches. Chili Davis and Tom Slater are done.
Sidenote: “Hugh Quattlebaum” is a real person, lest anyone think that’s a prank name, too:
So we’re at a cultural crossroads, here. Might this team break societal barriers forever, give Donnie Stevenson a call, and make the first imaginary coaching hire in history?
7. Albert Pujols played third base last night, after this brutal Anthony Rendon injury
Maybe the leading candidate for OOF of the year, Rendon almost taking his own kneecap off:
8. The Oakland A’s are selling tickets in Dogecoin now
Leave it to the Bay Area to come out with the quirky stuff — we love it. “Dogecoin to the moon!” Is that what the “kids” are saying?
9. A baseball clip makes it onto BBC Sport and Dude’s Posting W’s
Don’t let anyone tell you baseball has fallen out of the limelight, people. We’re so in there. We’re back. We’re worldwide:
10. Player tweet of the day: Noah Syndergaard
11. Dustin May is out for the season, Tommy John surgery coming
2.74 ERA on the season, beloved young pitcher with Dodger fans, and just like that — he’s shut down. A surgery date set for May 11th.
In other injury news, Luis Robert (White Sox CF) is out for 12–16 weeks:
12. The Dustin May news might make the Dodgers attempt their throwback Trevor Bauer idea
Like it’s the days of baseball yore again — pitching every fourth day:
13. Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain returned to the Brewers
A Milwaukee roster that’s been decimated by injuries, now with its two biggest stars back. With the team hanging on somehow— first place in the NL Central.
And in his first at-bat off the IL, Lorenzo Cain did this:
14. Minor League baseball, at long last, resumes today
15. Today in baseball fashion, from Philadelphia to Tokyo
16. Lastly, Japan took the creepiness of cardboard cut-out fans to the next level: robot fans
“Pepper (balloon-mounted version)” the tweet says, translated.
Don’t know what that means, don’t know what they’re going for, just know these robots need to be eradicated ASAP:
